Chapter 41
CRUTCH
The quiet.
I’ve never been so glad to hear nothing in my whole life.
She’s safe. And that’s all that matters. The world around us may be gone. Imploded. But all that matters is she’s safe.
I scoop her up from the hard floor, checking her for injuries even though I know she’s just fine. Even though we just went through something traumatic, she doesn’t want me to see her crying. She quickly wipes her eyes with her hands. The only light in the room is the glow from the flashlight on her phone. I glance around, spotting some candles on a shelf.
“Do you have matches in the Children’s Wing?”
“We have a candle lighter. Carrie loves candles. There’s a bunch more in the laundry closet.”
Scooping the candles into my arm, I unlock the door and grab her hand. Nothing looks unusual in the hallway. I glance toward the Big House, not immediately seeing anything amiss, and pull her back into her section of the house. I need to assess the damage.
“Lulu, I need you to gather all the candles. Put them on the kitchen counter. I’ll be back in a few minutes. I need to check on things outside.”
She refuses to release my hand. Her lips purse into a thin line and she stares at me. “No. We’ll gather the candles. And then we’ll go outside. Together.”
I growl. “Why do you keep giving me shit today?”
“Why do you keep trying to leave me today?”
I’ll never leave you. Not in a million years.
Once we make it outside, I’m pleasantly pleased the damage isn’t worse than it is. The house and cars are fine. The horrible, ripping noise that sounded like the world was splitting in two came from one of the pecan trees near the edge of the road. It’s been completely upended from the roots and is now laying across Lulu’s wide front yard. I look up and down the street. Some other people are walking around, surveying the damage. It looks like this neighborhood was spared from a direct hit. Or maybe the tornado was lifting back in the air at this point. I see a couple of downed trees and some downed power lines. Other than that, it’s just a lot of limbs and shingles everywhere.
Lulu walks to the edge of the driveway to join me. She’s cleaned the mascara from underneath her eyes, but they’re still red-rimmed and puffy. She shivers. The storm brought with it a cold front, taking away the summer-like weather from this morning. The rain has stopped, and a few remaining sprinkles splatter in the puddles.
“I got ahold of Mom. Told her everything was okay with the house. She said she’ll have Dad call someone about the tree. Harlan answered. They are fine. A tree fell on his son’s car, but the house itself is okay. I still can’t get ahold of Uncle Ray, Aunt Teresa, or Holt. It’s making me nervous. I even tried Ridge. He didn’t answer either.”
“Maybe it’s just the signal, everyone trying to use their cell phones at once.”
She shakes her head, causing loose, wet strands of hair to fall from her scattered ponytail. She needs to change out of those wet clothes before she catches a cold.
“I don’t think so. It would give me that weird beeping noise if that was the case. This just keeps ringing and rolling to voicemail.” She taps her phone against her chin and reaches around to rub the scar on her neck. “Maybe some local news channels are already airing coverage.” She starts to do a web search on her phone when it rings, making her jump.
“Raylee?”
…
“Yeah, we’re okay. Mom and Dad are out of town. Me and Ry are at my house. Everything is fine here. Just some downed trees and power lines.”
…
“No, I haven’t been able to get ahold of them either, why? What’s wrong?”
All of the color drains from Lulu’s face. She looks like she’s about to faint. I reach out, grabbing her elbows, holding her steady.
“We’re on our way there now,” she says, voice wavy and uncertain. “I’ll call you as soon as we have news.”
By the time she hangs up the phone, I’m already tugging her toward the car. We left everything in it. Keys, her purse. I open the passenger-side door, helping her inside. “Talk to me, Lulu.”
She’s in shock, and I have to call her name again before she shakes out of it. “Raylee saw her street. On the national weather broadcast. It’s demolished. She said it looks like a war zone.”
I glance around, trying to think. “Does your dad have any tools here? Like a chainsaw or an ax or anything like that?”
She nods, solemnly. “In the third garage.” She points across the yard. “Other driveway.”
I back out of her driveway on two wheels and drive up the road to the other driveway. She can’t use her key code because the electricity is out, so she opens a side door with her key. Once we’re inside of the garage, I pull the emergency cord and lift the heavy aluminum rolling door by hand. I grab everything I see that might be useful. A chainsaw, two axes, some flashlights, a ladder, some gasoline, and two large tarps, still in the vacuum packaging. We load everything into the back of the SUV. Lulu has to crawl in to lower the seats for the ladder.
We’re driving down her street, trying to avoid the larger limbs when we pass a patrol cruiser with its lights flashing. A couple of seconds later, it beeps its siren, asking us over the loudspeaker to pull over. Are you damn kidding me right now?
“What? What’s happening?” Lulu bounces in her seat, a nervous wreck. She checks her phone for the umpteenth time.
A policeman jumps out of the cruiser’s passenger-side door and jogs over to my window. I quickly lower it. He looks at me and Lulu. “Officer?”
“Are you Ella Hill?”
“Oh no. What happened? Are they dead?”
The officer’s face clouds with confusion. “Is who dead? Detective Marcum sent us to check on you. His cell phone was damaged. He’s unable to make calls.” He narrows his eyes. “Is someone you know injured?”
“We can’t get in touch with our aunt and uncle. Our cousin called and said she saw their street on the news. Said it was demolished. We have to go check on them.”
Since when are Teresa and Ray our aunt and uncle, instead of her aunt and uncle?
I guess since now.
“What street? What neighborhood?”
When I tell him, his own face blanches. “Listen, you need to turn around and head back home. You won’t be able to get over there. That whole area is blocked off.”
“No!” Lulu grabs my arm, digging her nails into my skin.
“No offense, Officer, but I will not take her home and make her sit there for hours, in the dark, wondering what happened to her family. No way in hell.”
“Marcum said for her to stay put.”
I chuckle, cynically. “Marcum knows her better than that.”
He scrubs his face, looking back at his partner in the patrol car.
“Look,” I say, lowering my voice, “if it’s that bad, they need all the help they can get. I’ve got tarps, axes, gasoline, a chainsaw. And I’m able-bodied, strong. Let me help.”
Sighing in resignation, he gives me directions to the back side of Ray and Teresa’s neighborhood, where a small access road is usually blocked off from trespassers because it has a small electrical substation on it. “Go there. I’ll radio ahead and tell the patrol unit to let you through. Be prepared to park and carry your stuff.”
As we drive through town, the varying degrees of damage is astonishing. There are areas of nothing, areas that look like Lulu’s neighborhood, and a few small areas where buildings are nearly flattened. We pass overturned cars. Parts of roof structures. There’s even a patio chair in a tree. It looks to be in pretty good shape. Under different circumstances, I’d stop and get it for the homestead.
I don’t have to ask Lulu to do anything for me while we drive. She takes it all upon herself. First, she calls the nursing home. It takes four tries to get through, but she finally does. Everything is fine with Grandma. The storm completely missed them. Biting her lip, she looks up the phone number for the gas station. Someone answers on the first ring.
She rubs the scar on the back of her neck. “Hello, yes, I was wondering if the station was okay from the storm. Did you receive any damage?”
…
“Good. So, it missed you?”
…
“And the body shop across the parking lot? It’s okay too?”
…
She exhales in relief. “That’s wonderful news, thank you. Um, was Trash at the gas station when the storm came through?
…
No, I don’t wanna talk to—”
…
She can’t hide the scowl on her face. “Trash, it’s Ella Hill.”
She squeezes her eyes closed, fighting her anger. Like me, she’s probably grown to hate the sound of his voice in general. But… he’s still my brother. Nice to know he’s still alive.
“No. I’m just calling to make sure you weren’t physically injured by the tornado. And Larry and Cindy?”
…
“No, he’s with me. Town is a complete mess. We are trying to help where needed.”
She doesn’t mention Ray and Teresa. Smart move.
“Don’t start with me.” Her tone scares even me. “I’ll let him know you’re all safe.” She hangs up the phone and just gives me a simple nod.
She’s so damn remarkable.
I turn onto the small access road. I can barely function enough to lower the window, to talk to the officer. I give him our names, and he tells us where to pull in. “That’s as far as you’ll be able to drive. Clemson said you have a chainsaw and some axes?”
I clear my throat, trying to talk. I can’t so I just nod. “Take them with you. Anything that can help.”
I reach across the console, wrapping my hand around Lulu’s. She’s shaking like a leaf.
And as we approach what used to be the neighborhood that her aunt and uncle lived in, she gasps.
War zone doesn’t even begin to describe it.